


Take the Low Road: Scenes from a Journey

by opalmatrix



Category: Mugen no Juunin | Blade of the Immortal
Genre: Comrades, Developing Relationship, F/M, Misses Clause Challenge, Rape Aftermath, Rape Recovery, Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 10:20:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5453132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opalmatrix/pseuds/opalmatrix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Anotsu had not ordered the Itto-Ryu to spare Rin?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take the Low Road: Scenes from a Journey

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Floranna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Floranna/gifts).



> Floranna's prompt was _AU: when Anotsu and Itto-ryu came to kill [Rin's] parents, he failed (forgot, didn't care) to say to not to touch Rin. So, they took her with them and did…well, very dark things to her. But now she has survived it. How did that change her?_ Thanks to my friends for encouragement as I explored this dark challenge, and [**telophase**](http://archiveofourown.org/users/telophase/pseuds/telophase) for doing the beta read.

A hand on her shoulder woke her from sleep. Her eyelids were heavy, gummy, and didn't want to open. _Oh Mother, I had the most awful dream!_

Then the pain between her legs reasserted itself, and the stickiness on her thighs, and she noticed again the smell of men and woodsmoke. And she remembered that it was not a dream.

"Yeah, keep your eyes closed," whispered a voice near her ear. "Pretend to be dead."

_Why?_ she wanted to ask. But she had asked that question over and over again, ever since this waking nightmare began, and no one had troubled to answer her. And perhaps it would be better to be dead: to no longer be troubled by the deaths of her parents and the violent assault on her body.

"That's it. That's fine," said the voice. _Tense, masculine, not old,_ said her thoughts. Familiar, too. She had heard it before, recently.

He picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, like a sack of rice. It was not comfortable, but it was much better than most of what she had suffered in the last day. _Or was it two days?_

The man began to walk. Rin's arms and legs dangled limply, and her head. Her hair rings swung from her untidy plaits.

"Young Magatsu," rumbled another voice, also familiar. "What are you doing with the girl?"

"She's dead," said the man carrying her. "Takin' her away. What's been done already's bad enough. Those guys're outta control." 

Silence. Then fingers against her throat. Rin tried not to breathe.

"If you say she's dead, then it must be so," said the second voice. It was the older man with the strange shoulder armor, the pauldrons that rose nearly as high as his own head: the one who had hidden her face against the sight of her mother's rape. "I will bear witness. Be off then. Best no one else sees you leave."

"Yeah," said the first man, Magatsu, with a chuckle that had no humor in it. She remembered him now: the man who had objected to his comrades' treatment of Rin and her mother. He had a shock of brown hair, and half his face was masked. "See ya, Sabato."

More walking. She opened her eyes just a bit. They were along a road. It was dark. After some time, he stepped off the road and set her down. They were in a copse of young trees. "Think of some place I can take you," he said, his voice low.

"Where are we?" she whispered.

"A little less than two koku's walk north of your folks' dojo."

"The Yashira family's farm. They use to supply us with rice and eggs. The end of the first lane north of the dojo."

"Got it. Good. I need to get ya there before the traffic picks up." He picked her up again and stepped out. They had not gone but half a ri when Rin heard footsteps approaching. Magatsu froze.

"Magatsu. What are you doing?"

She knew that voice. She would never forget it. Magatsu shifted uneasily beneath her, then straightened. "Taking care of a little detail that you _forgot_ , boss."

Rin opened her eyes warily, but all she could see were Anotsu Kagehisa's sandaled feet. "Magatsu—"

"'I'll tell 'em to leave the girl alone.' Isn't that what you said? Didn't happen, did it?"

"Is she dead?"

"I say she's dead."

"She's not dead."

"I say she's dead!"

There was a little silence. Finally: "Where are you taking her?"

"Somewhere else."

"Magatsu. You've been with me a long time."

Magatsu did not answer. In the tension of the moment, for the first time since they'd left the camp, Rin felt the discomfort of his shoulder in her belly. Before she could stop herself, she gasped. A tiny sound, but in the quiet before dawn, it was easy to hear.

Kagehisa sighed. "Magatsu, can she stand? I would speak with her."

"I dunno, boss, those bastards pretty much raped the life out of her, and she's just a kid."

"I can stand," Rin whispered.

Magatsu eased her off his shoulder and onto her feet, supporting her with one arm around her. The destroyer of her family was frowning, his narrow eyes mere slits. "Asano girl. Your existence has forced my man here to take action against me. But I will forget this, as you must forget what has happened to you and your family and the Muntenichi-Ryu dojo these last two days. It is the only way you can live."

His words made no sense. She gaped at him like a newborn infant. And then the meaning came to her, and she was filled with a rage that burned. "I will _never_ forget these things, I will never forget you. I will never forgive you!"

And now he would kill her. She did not care.

His expression changed. He looked puzzled and exasperated. "Am I supposed to kill you now? And compound my mistake? You are a fool. You can barely stand. You are no threat to me. I was merely giving you some good advice." He looked past her to his lieutenant. "Take her wherever you were going. When should I expect you?"

Magatsu relaxed. "By this evening, boss."

"We'll see you at Tobishima, then."

He started to walk past them. Rin jerked out of Magatsu's grasp and took a step after Kagehisa. Her legs buckled and she collapsed to sit in the dust of the road. He looked back and saw her, but all he did was shake his head and continue onward. "Anotsu Kagehisa!" she shouted at his back. "I will never forget! And one day I _will_ kill you!"

He walked off, into the darkness. She was alone with Magatsu, and her pain, and the coming dawn.

* * *

"Prove you're really so serious about it," said the kenshi called Manji.

"But…but I…" she stuttered, like a silly baby.

"What's wrong?" he asked, lighting his pipe. He wasn't even looking at her. "You all talk?"

"Okay…okay, then! I told you what Kagehisa's men did to me. You may do with me whatever you want!" She dropped to her knees and started to undo her kimono.

He was so fast that she hardly saw him move, and then the back of his hand smacked her across the cheek, as hard as anything those men had done to her two years ago.

"Get your damn clothes back on!" he said. "A kid like you shouldn't make a joke like that!"

Her eyes filled, and her nose. "I'm not a kid," she whispered. "At least a dozen men had me that night."

He had the grace to look regretful. "Look…I'm sorry, girl. It's just…You look just like my little sister. So I hit you like I meant it, hey…? And it doesn't matter what those bastards did. That's on _them_. You're still just a kid."

She got herself together and rose with what she hoped was an unchildlike grace. "Goodbye, Manji," she said and turned to go.

"Hey, wait up!" he called. He was following her. "There's scum out here hunting for girls like you…I mean, you know that. I've got nothing to do, so I may as well walk you into town."

He was a murderous rogue: she'd been told that. But maybe he would be _her_ murderous rogue.

* * *

"You no longer belong to the Mutenichi-Ryu," said Kagehisa. "You're halfway to being one of _us_. Good-bye, girl. Devote yourself to the path."

He turned away from her and walked on—again. But this time she did not have to let him go. Her legs were strong, and he clearly did not imagine that she carried a tanto—although he should have. It was the traditional women's weapon, after all.

She closed the distance between them and swung the dagger toward his right kidney. He turned and sidestepped easily. She staggered with the force of her missed stroke and nearly fell.

"Practice," he said. "I heard you coming the minute you reached a full run, and look at you. A missed blow should not make you lose your center. What would your father say?"

And he was leaving again. Tears of rage and frustration filled her eyes as she fell to her knees. "S-so…what…am I supposed to do _now?_ You b-bastard!"

* * *

The shared room was dark, but Rin's face felt so hot that she was half-convinced that Manji could see it glowing. "When I hired you as my bodyguard, my…buh– bo– b– _body_ came under your control, so…I think it's okay…for you to…take advantage of that…a little more."

Silence. At the beginning of their journey, he had rejected her, and that was the correct thing to do: they had just met. But surely, after all this time…?

"Okay, then," he said, and his voice was genial. "Come on over."

And now she had his invitation. Then why was she moving like a thing of lead? She arrived at his side some time later, curled up just off his futon and stretched out her hand. "I…uh…M-manji sensei…. Tell me the next step."

"Hnn? Yeah, the next step is…just joking, kid."

She could have wept with shame and frustration. "Manji, I saved you! I want, I want just a teeny…."

"A reward? People ain't rewards, Rin-chan. You should know that, better'n most."

"You don't…you don't want…."

"I'm with you to the end, kid. But not like that."

She really was crying now. "Why can't I have what I want, for once? I'm not an innocent little flower!"

"No, you're not. But that ain't what you told me you really want. Changed your mind?"

She wiped her nose. "No!"

"Then let's move on with it, okay? You did good."

Did she really want something he would not, maybe _could_ not, give? She settled down, her futon near his, his strong hand clasping hers.

_…But I feel that our time together from now on will be short…Please, Manji, let us savor it._

* * *

The ground was cold, now that Manji's warm back was no longer against her body. The snow swirled before her eyes, making it hard to be certain what she was seeing. Surely that was Manji there, at the side of the quay, talking to someone standing at the bridge of planks that led to the ship tethered there, in the iron-dark water?

And there, that man, to whom Manji was speaking…?

She had the blade. It was not her little tanto. Where had she found it? Did it matter? The ground was littered with the dead of Anotsu's ambitions, Habaki's machinations. They had weapons. This place was filled with tools she could use to do her will: the deed she had waited to do for nearly three years. She got to her feet. The sight before her wavered and paled, but she could still see that man, that lithe but weary figure, his long hair unbound.

"Ah!" cried a man standing on the ship. He had seen her. The sound gave her strength to walk, to run. Anotsu Kagehisa turned. She would not let him turn and walk away from her this time.

_But when I know for sure…I'll come to kill you! Without fail! So… _never_ forget!_

She had never before felt this sensation, the resistance and release of a sharp blade penetrating an opponent's clothing, skin, flesh. Bright blood bloomed: she could feel its warmth. She pulled on the hilt with both hands and saw the blade emerge again before her, now dripping red as they both fell, and then there was only the bitter cold.

* * *

The summer sun beat down on the heads of the two women as they walked together, deep in conversation.

"People who cry because they're helpless…people who spend nights awake because of lost loves…people in those situations," said Rin. "Those people should be at Manji's side…I think. But me? No more. I…"

Hyakurin's ears were filled with the chiming drone of the cicadas as Rin fell silent. "You _what?_ " said Hyakurin, at last.

"Hyakurin, you and Giichi? Is that the way to do it?"

"Whoa. Is that the way to do what? What are you talking about, Rin?"

"Those men who hurt you…who hurt me. You're having this baby. Is that because of Giichi? Is that the way to …forget?

Hyakurin was about to scream at the kid that it was none of her business. But it was, in a way. "I'm not forgetting a thing," she said, voice flat. "But hell if I'm going to let them have one piece more of me then they already got. And those punks are dead. I'm here. I can feel this sun, feel that baby move. It's my baby, because I'm having it. It's Giichi's baby, because he wants it and he's working his ass off for it. It's none of theirs. Those guys that hurt you are all dead too, right? Let 'em burn in hell, Rin. Don't let them take one bit of you along with them."

"But that's it. You have the baby, and Giichi. Should I…?"

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. That's no way to set yourself up with someone for life. And since when is there a right way to do something like that? When you had frostbite, did you think about 'the right way' to heal? Did you worry about how _I'd_ heal up from frostbite, or Meguro, or Master Sori's girl? Go on that pilgrimage of yours. You got the energy, might as well use it. And maybe, just _maybe_ , by the time you get back here, you'll be ready to think about what you're going to do with your life."

The kid was quiet. Hyakurin hoped she was doing some serious thinking.

"Shall we move along, Hyakurin-san?" Rin said, at last.

The two women continued side by side down the lane. The green branches of high summer waved above their heads, tipped with new life, reaching for the sun.

 


End file.
